http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.stpeter.org.nz en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2026 23:51:02 +1300 Rocketspark http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/172309/views-from-the-pews-remembrance/ If you are reading this, it is probably because you have just taken part in a core Christian activity, an act of remembrance that Jesus asks us all to practise regularly. Our eucharistic participation is defined as ‘In Remembrance of Me’, as we recall the Last Supper.So how to observe Remembrance Sunday? How to extend Remembrance beyond this special part of November? This should ideally be an act of self-discipline, but enjoyable at the same time. Beyond the obvious public observance, we mig... Sun, 08 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post172309 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/172068/views-from-the-pews-washed-white/ Among the most striking images in the Book of Revelation is the vision of a vast multitude standing before the throne of God, clothed in white robes. When asked who they are, the answer comes:  "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."Blood does not make things white. Blood stains. Our instinct is to recoil from the language, or perhaps to pass over it quickly.Yet Revelation is full of symbols that are ... Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post172068 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/171852/the-ashwell-pear-tree-a-story-that-took-root-in-1843/ A place of worship, community and music, and a significant heritage building in Hamilton, the bricks and mortar of the Waikato Cathedral Church of St Peter are more than 110 years old. But the history of the Cathedral is not just held within its walls. There is much to tell of its grounds too.As you approach the Cathedral, one of the things that may not immediately draw your eye is a young pear tree just in front of the building, on the left as you walk up the steps.Known as the Ashwell pear tre... Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post171852 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/171850/views-from-the-pews-eden-the-prequel/ Andrew Morley and I were discussing Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ the other day. Andrew had been expected to memorise parts of it as a schoolboy, whereas I was attempting to read it from start to end. Andrew - among others - thought that it was meant to be read aloud. That’s almost certainly correct because the blind Milton dictated it to his daughter.Either way it’s a challenge to read. Published in 1667, it is a loose derivation of Genesis 3, sitting stylistically between Shakespeare and ... Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post171850 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/171657/views-from-the-pews-rugby-is-great-but-god-is-greater/ A few weeks back the mighty All Blacks met their nemesis, the Springboks, at Ellis Park, South Africa. The two captains, Ardie Savea and Siya Kolise, are great rivals on the field and great friends off the field. Their families meet for meals and on Sundays they go to church and worship together.Ardie Savea stands amazingly tall, one of the greatest All Blacks and leaders the sport has ever known. He openly honours God when he plays, and gazes upwards when he crosses the try line. He is not asha... Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post171657 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/171384/views-from-the-pews-floods-and-rainbows/ At the end of last month we re-visited a familiar Sunday School story; Noah, his family, an ark, a whole lot of animals, a flood, and a rainbow. See Genesis chapter 9, particularly from verse 12. The chapter mentions the word ‘Covenant’ several times, mainly in a discussion between God and Noah and his family. This is a very special word, repeated by God a number of times.For the purposes of today’s article, we will assume that ‘Covenant’ means a unilateral promise, non-transactional, ... Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post171384 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/171129/views-from-the-pews-the-mystery-we-receive/ He was the Word that spake it,He took the Bread and brake it;And what the Word did make it,That I believe and take it.These four lines have wandered through English history, sometimes placed in the mouth of a queen, sometimes at the pen of a poet. Their appeal is obvious. In an age that argued fiercely about what happens at the altar — transubstantiation here, consubstantiation there, and a good deal of nervous hedging in between — this little epigram simply steps aside from the quarrel. It ... Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1300 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post171129 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/170904/views-from-the-pews-coming-to-church/ Whilst recruiting for this column I spoke to many parishioners, and obtained valuable feedback. Some agreed to contribute, others felt it was not for them. In the course of one such conversation with a wise member of the congregation, he apologised, but in so doing led the discussion along another more fruitful track. We agreed that there were many who were well-qualified, but would not want to put their names to published material, especially if it went on-line. We spoke of anonymity, and how i... Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post170904 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/170469/views-from-the-pews-being-right/ “There are more things in heaven and on earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Hamlet – Shakespeare)Age softens the connective tissues, but also perhaps one’s dogmatism. I have been struck across my (many!) decades at how human knowledge is ever expansile. The more we know, the more we find there is to discover.  Questions beget questions. Many of the world’s Ivy League universities were founded on the principle that God delights in our vigorous intellectual endea... Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post170469 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/post/169957/views-from-the-pews-do-we-really-need-cathedrals/ You may have been lucky enough to catch ‘Britain’s Great Cathedrals’ on Sky Arts recently. Yes, full of the usual history and architecture but six cathedrals as seen through the eyes of an Instagram-friendly young clergyman called Pat Allerton, very much the 21st Century parson. Allerton pays tribute to the architects and crafts people, but has a clear idea of what a Cathedral’s function might be in the social media age. Firstly, the building encapsulates the identity of its town or city... Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.stpeter.org.nz/blog/#post169957